Bathtub Gin and Alcohol During Prohibition

With all the recent interest in reviving long dead cocktails created during the Prohibition Era  I thought it might be fun to dedicate a post.  These cocktails were meant to mask the taste of Bathtub Gin and to disguise the alcoholic contents from prying eyes.


 Distilleries, breweries, and vineyards were shutdown all over the country if they did not have a license to provide alcohol for medicinal or religious purposes.  Priests and Rabbis were given access to wine for ceremonial purposes but this was not enough for everyone.

Nine breweries in Dayton, Ohio were shutdown or converted to produce other products such as ice, soda pop, ice cream, and spring water.

The Dayton Breweries Company, owned by Adam Schantz, began to make its 'Lily Water' available for public consumption.  Originally the 'Lily Water' was used in the brewing of the beer.

Enter

Gin became popular during the 1920's as an alternative to other forms of alcohol.  It was cheap and easy to make.

HERE is a recipe for 'Bathtub Gin' that let's you bring some history into your home.  Okay, so maybe not some history but it might put you in the spirit. 

Strong Women, Strong Views

Carrie Nation was a Temperance activist prior to the 18th Amendment.  She was known for taking a hatchet into bars and smashing liquor bottles and bar mirrors.

Women who wanted Prohibition to be repealed so in order to create jobs and industry in the failing economy of the Great Depression

18th Amendment Ratified

On January 16, 1919 the 18th Amendment was ratified and the nation became dry.  Prohibition had begun.  Papers across Ohio and across the nation heralded the news on January 17th.

'Wet' or 'Dry'?

'Wet':

 “Nine breweries, all equipped with the most modern machinery for the manufacture of the highest grade beer and ale, are located in the city and add materially to the standing of Dayton in the industrial world.  More than 200,000 barrels are made annually and to the workmen employed in the different departments $3000,000 is paid each year in wages.”[1]

'Dry':

The Western Christian Advocate states: typical working-class men in the early twentieth century earned ‘a dollar and quarter a day, [of which] thirty-five cents will be spent for beer, leaving ninety cents for the support of a family of five children.”[2]

Which side would you have been on in 1908?  Are you Protestant? Lutheran? Catholic? Where does the male of the house employed?  Are you in favor of Women's Suffrage?  All of these would factor into your decision.

[1] Dalton, Curt. Breweries of Dayton: A toast to brewers from the Gem City: 1810-1961. Dayton History Books. http://www.daytonhistorybooks.com/page/page/1636305.htm, 1996. (accessed February 24, 2012).

[2] Lantzer, Jason S. Prohibition Is Here to Stay. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2009. p 94